Transport from Ostrzeszow, Kepno, Poznan, Poland to Lodz, Lodz, Lodz, Poland on 12/1939

Ostrzeszów (Schildberg), a village located some 125 kilometers west of the city of Łódź, was occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939 and became part of Landkreis Kempen (Kempen County), in the Regierungsbezirk (administrative district) of Litzmannstadt (Łódź). Although Jews had lived there from at least the eighteenth century, over the years few Jews were known to live there. Pinkas HaKehillot notes that there were 122 Jewish inhabitants in 1921. In 1939, the new German authorities registered twenty-four Jews, living among 345 Germans—probably Volksdeutsche (local Germans)—and 5,389 Poles. At the end of 1939, the Germans dissolved the Jewish community of Ostrzeszów and deported all of its members to Łódź. Pinkas HaKehillot states that three Jews were deported to Łódź; our sources, however, indicate that it is more likely that at least eighteen Jewish men, women, and children were taken there. ...